Placeness formation mechanisms

In the 1970s, humanist scholars Yi-fu Tuan and Edward Relph introduced the concept of place into the field of geography research, and the theory of place and placeness became an important perspective guiding geographers in the study of people-place relations [13,14]. Placeness usually refers to the uniqueness of a place within a specific range of time and space [15], as well as the spirit or qualities given to a place in the process of continuous interaction between human beings and the natural environment [16]. The objective physical environment, social and cultural activities, and the emotional meaning constructed by the subject in the interaction between humans and the land are the three dimensions of placeness composition, which is characterized by the combination of objectivity and subjectivity.

The humanist and structuralist schools have been explored in the context of the concept and connotation of placeness, ultimately leading to the consideration of different perspectives on the mechanism of placeness formation. On the one hand, the endogenous mechanism of placeness formation, influenced by the humanist school of thought, is represented by the theoretical perspectives on the subjective construction and social practice of placeness. The former believes that placeness is formed through subjective construction, where different subjects construct differences in placeness. This concept is more often discussed in conjunction with the concepts of sense of place, place identity, and place attachment, among others. The latter believes that placeness is formed in the process of bottom-up action and practice by the actors.

On the other hand, placeness formation research influenced by the structuralist school focuses on the influential role of exogenous factors. Among them, scholars represented by David Harvey and Doreen Massey believe that placeness is integrated under complex social relations formed by structural forces in the course of material socio-economic processes [17,18]; scholars represented by Michel Foucault pay attention to the role of discourse and representation in the process of placeness construction, and the resulting reconstruction of social power relations [19]. The diversified theoretical perspectives on the mechanism of placeness formation have been widely applied in empirical research, including both single-perspective studies [20,21] and comprehensive research involving humanist and structuralist perspectives [22,23], indicating that the formation of placeness is the result of the joint action of multiple forces.

Although there are differences in the perspectives that research scholars in various fields focus on, they highlight the essential feature of placeness: the uniqueness of the place [24,25]. The formation of placeness is shaped under the joint action of objective environment and subjective factors, which gives the theory of place and placeness a clear advantage in exploring the formation of people-place relations with objects as the medium.

Relationship between text and placeness

With the continuous expansion and deepening of theoretical perspectives on the study of placeness, the new cultural geography has begun to pay attention to the interrelationship between text and placeness. Based on this, existing studies have explored how texts contribute to the construction and formation of placeness, focusing on two theoretical aspects. First is the unitary theoretical perspective. Based on the perspective of external identity, the perception and identification of the “other” group influence the presentation of placeness and its formation [26]. From a structuralist perspective, structural and non-structural dynamics are intertwined in place-making [27]. Second, the integrated perspective of humanism and structuralism. The social relations between the place and the outside world, as well as the degree to which different types of subjects identify with the placeness, drive the formation of the placeness [22]. In addition, the content records and value representations of textual placeness, as well as how different subjects symbolize and interpret it, confirm the existence of a two-way interactive relationship between the text and the construction of placeness [28–30].

The interaction between multiple influencing factors in the mechanism of placeness formation has attracted the attention of scholars, and studies from a comprehensive perspective have also shown the complexity of placeness formation, i.e., the construction of placeness is realized under the joint influence of external factors and internal mechanisms. However, in the study of the mechanism of textual participation in the construction of placeness, although attention has been paid to the joint role of humanist and structuralist factors, these two types of influencing factors are still treated as an independent existence. There is a lack of consideration of the interaction of factors from a systemic perspective.

The “structure-action-place” triple interaction proposed by Pred provides a framework for integrating structuralist and humanist research and has been applied to the field of placeness research [31]. Scholars have introduced structuration theory to explore the impact of the interactive process between social structure and the social practices of individual actors on the formation and evolution of placeness [32]. At the same time, based on the two research perspectives of social construction and humanism, they focus on the influence of macro social structure elements and individual actors’ practices on the construction of placeness [33]. It has been found that the subject’s “action” plays a crucial role in the process of constructing and reconstructing placeness [34,35].

The interactive relationship between structure, action, and place indicates that the formation of placeness is a practical response based on the foundation of the placeness elements by each subject of action under the structured adjustment, emphasizing the role and reaction relationship between the subject of action and the influencing factors, which provides a theoretical perspective for an in-depth discussion of the interactive process of the interaction between Huangmei Opera and placeness.

Study design

This study takes Pride’s structuration theory as the basic analytical framework and focuses on the dialectical relationship between structure and action in the process of constructing placeness in traditional opera [31]. The value of this theoretical perspective lies in the following: firstly, it breaks through the limitations of the dichotomy of “structure” and ‘action’ in traditional research and provides a dynamic analytical tool for understanding the inheritance and innovation of Huangmei Opera, a living cultural heritage; secondly, the theory emphasizes the importance of the spatial and temporal dimensions, and can effectively capture the evolutionary trajectory of Huangmei Opera during different periods of history and in different spaces of performance; Finally, the concept of “duality” is suitable for analyzing the characteristics of traditional opera, which is both bound by traditional norms and constantly breaking through and innovating.

At the methodological level, the first is the organic combination of macro-institutional analysis and micro-practice observation, which can grasp not only structural adjustments, such as the restructuring of Huangmei Opera troupes, the promotion of globalization, and the context of modernity, but also penetrate specific scenarios, such as the practice of exhibition spaces. Secondly, it establishes a dual perspective of historical compilation and comparison of different actors, both tracing the institutionalization of Huangmei Opera from the grassroots to the theatre and comparing the differences in the practices of different types of actors; thirdly, it develops a three-dimensional analytical model of “structure-action-place,” which enriches the spatial dimension of the study of traditional opera by examining the interaction of the material characteristics of the exhibition space and its symbolic meaning. This comprehensive research path offers new analytical insights into understanding the adaptive changes of traditional opera culture in modern society (Fig 1).

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Fig 1. The analysis framework among structure, action, and place during Huangmei Opera participating in placeness construction.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334133.g001

Data sources

This study collected data through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and text analysis, focusing on the multidimensional dynamics of the regional construction of Huangmei Opera. From May to August 2024, the research team conducted semi-structured interviews with 35 participants in the Anqing region. Table 1 shows the demographic information of the participants, with a focus on the logic of policy implementation, strategies for artistic practice, and differences in cultural identity. Concurrently, participatory observation methods were employed to gather information on the cultural landscape of Huangmei Opera, its various performance forms, and related activities. Textual data included the Anqing Region Journal, local government cultural policy documents, and interviews with Huangmei Opera artists. These data were integrated to interpret the structural adjustments in actors’ representations of their participation in the regional construction of Huangmei Opera and its metaphorical socio-cultural significance. All data were anonymized and coded, with sensitive information de-identified.

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Table 1. Composition of the interview sample.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334133.t001

Data analysis

This study adopted inductive coding for data analysis, avoiding theoretical presuppositions throughout. First, we repeatedly read the 35 transcribed interviews, field observation notes, and policy texts to establish an overall understanding of the development context of Anqing Huangmei Opera; then, we manually coded line by line to generate the initial codes and clustered the semantically related codes to form the provisional themes through the continuous comparison method. Theme validation involves a triple cross: textual, behavioral, and mutual verification is realized against interview claims and observation records, multi-perspective triangulation is achieved by comparing contradictory representations from various groups, and five key interviewees are invited to verify the accuracy of these representations. In the theme refinement stage, we iteratively optimize the naming of core themes based on the internal logic of the data and ultimately embed the mature themes into the analytical narrative of Huangmei Opera’s placeness construction, where each argument is directly anchored to the original interview quotes, forming a substantive interpretation that emerges from the bottom up.

Ethical considerations

The study was reviewed by the Research Ethics Committee of Anqing Normal University, and all procedures were approved prior to data collection. The principle of informed consent was strictly adhered to throughout the research, and participants were informed of the study’s purpose, the intended use of their data, and the anonymization measures that would be implemented. Alphanumeric codes were used to replace personal information, and sensitive expressions were semantically desensitized. The raw text was stored on a password-encrypted device accessible only to the research team. All respondents were adults over the age of 18 and were explicitly informed that they could withdraw from the study at any time without conditions. The study eliminated any form of incentive to participate and strictly adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and institutional ethical standards.

Structural elements: Cultural system reform

At the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the reform of traditional opera was put on the agenda. The key event in this phase was the issuance of the Directive on the Reform of Opera by the State Council of the Central People’s Government in 1951, which affirmed the educational significance of opera and put forward three significant aspects of the reform of opera: reforming the people, the opera and the system, to realize the innovation of the art. The socialist construction period in 1956 promoted the modernization of opera and encouraged the creation and performance of modern themes. Since 1978, China has initiated a cultural system reform to promote the prosperity and development of culture and stimulate cultural vitality. 1985, the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council forwarded the Ministry of Culture’s “Opinions on the Reform of Performing Arts Organizations,” which called for streamlining, merging, or abolishing performing arts organizations to carry out internal system reforms. In 1989, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued “Several Opinions on the Further Prosperity of Literature and Art,” proposing the retention of a small number of nationally owned troupes and the promotion of the restructuring of art organizations across various forms of ownership.

Since the new century began, rapid social and economic development has consistently elevated the importance of culture, and the reform of the cultural system has been further deepened. In 2000, the “Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Formulation of the Tenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development” adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifteenth Central Committee of the CPC put forward “cultural industry” as an official concept, indicating the path and direction of the reform. In 2002, the 16th CPC National Congress made new arrangements for the strategic adjustment of cultural construction and cultural industries, and the joint development of cultural undertakings and cultural industries became the focus of future work. The Provisions on the Conversion of Operational Cultural Institutions to Enterprises in the Reform of the Cultural System, released in 2018, clarified that the supportive policies already in place during the cultural system reform would be continued, such as the exemption from corporate income tax for five years after restructuring.

In the more than 40 years since the reform of the cultural system was promoted, the overall direction of work has been shaped by the insistence on promoting the differentiated development of cultural undertakings for the public good and cultural enterprises for business purposes, the protection and inheritance of traditional culture in the context of globalization, and the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture. Firstly, the reform of the cultural system has led to the integration and optimization of traditional theatrical performing groups’ resources, the effective construction of a public cultural service system, and the closer integration of art groups with the market. Secondly, traditional culture in the context of globalization has become a representation of place brand symbols, which helps to establish and enhance cultural self-confidence, generates market demand for traditional culture, and the advantages of traditional place culture are becoming increasingly prominent. Finally, traditional culture in the context of modernity needs to undergo creative transformation and innovative development, exploring and seeking sustainable paths of inheritance for traditional culture under the guidance of people-centered policies. Huangmei Opera is a typical representative of Anqing’s excellent place traditional culture. In the stage when the theater market is in the doldrums, the cultural system reform vigorously pushed forward by the state provides new opportunities for traditional opera, including Huangmei Opera, which constitutes an important external condition for Huangmei Opera to participate in the construction of placeness.

Actor practice: Subjects of action and their practical responses

Under the impetus of cultural system reform, subjects of action respond to adjustments in structural elements through strategy formulation and daily leisure practices. In this process, the action subjects involved include local governments, Huangmei Opera practitioners, residents, and cultural consumers, and the practice behaviors of different types of action subjects differ significantly.

Local governments have strengthened place cultural brands through institutional intervention, establishing Anqing’s cultural status as a core area for Huangmei opera through the construction of physical spaces such as the China Huangmei Opera Museum, Yan Fengying’s former residence, and the Shipai Opera Characteristic Town, making them effective channels for residents and cultural consumers to learn about the opera. At the same time, it has taken the lead in constructing diversified performance forms, maintaining localized inheritance in theaters, halls, and public spaces, implementing “Opera on Campus” to cultivate young audiences and reserve talents, and organizing “Opera in the Community” to promote the improvement of public welfare cultural undertakings (ZF-02), as well as promoting “Huangmei Opera+Tourism” to realize two-way development of the industry (ZF-01). Relying on the Anqing Huangmei Opera (Local Opera) Research Institute to carry out protection and creation and importing professional talents for the development of Huangmei Opera through the Huangmei Opera Art College of Anqing Normal University and the Anhui Huangmei Opera Art Vocational College.

Huangmei Opera practitioners convey the qualities of a place through their creations and performances, and professional troupes incorporate elements of place into their scripts, highlighting the optimistic spirit of a place through the telling of local stories in Anqing. Based on their traditional repertoire, private troupes, and folk groups participate in the creation of new repertoire, utilizing local history and culture as sources of inspiration. During the creative process, playwrights often emphasize the importance of seeking storylines from historical records [36] or obtaining character materials from real life through fieldwork [10]. The director integrates living and programmatic techniques in the stage design [28]. At the same time, the actors focus on understanding the essence of the characters (CY-02), using dialect recitation and living performances to present the “unique singing and living local characteristics of Huangmei Opera” (CY-05) and maintaining the “easy-to-understand, simple and intimate artistic characteristics” (CY-06), and to realize the revitalization and transmission of placeness elements in incarnational practice.

Residents strengthen their cultural identity through daily practice, and those who love Huangmei Opera regard it as a form of leisure and entertainment, expressing the emotional experience that “listening to it is very comfortable and puts people in a better mood” (JM-03). Non-active participants are still profoundly influenced by the cultural atmosphere of the opera, generally agreeing that Huangmei Opera is an important part of the city’s culture and actively transforming it into a medium of social interaction; for example, “When friends from abroad come over, they will usually take them to the Guild Hall to listen to the opera, which is, after all, the biggest feature of Anqing, and is a window to show the place image of Anqing (JM-09) “. Based on the perception and identification of residents, Huangmei Opera is embedded with and transformed by placeness elements, which continuously promote the connection between Huangmei Opera and Anqing, further confirming the importance of the “local voice” [37,38].

Cultural consumers build cross-regional connections through diversified participation, “Cannot miss the big opera performances during art festivals and exhibition weeks (WD-09)”, “When I take the opportunity of a business trip, I go to the guild hall to listen to the opera (WD-08)”, and “Discover Huangmei Opera through the Shake Music platform (WD-10),” showing how cultural consumers connect with Huangmei Opera. Through the visual and auditory experience of Huangmei Opera, cultural consumers perceive and identify with the placeness embedded in Huangmei Opera, which is an “other” placeness constructed through the process of perceiving “Huangmei Opera” as “placeness.” The audience of Huangmei Opera is getting wider and wider; not only do you Anhui people like it, but we foreigners also like it; the singing voice is sweet, the storyline is close to life, and these place characteristics must be maintained (WD-02) “, which also conveys the idea of “letting yourself know more about the traditional culture and the characteristics of each place and discovering the beauty of each place, and let your memories of each place be good (WD-07)”, which effectively strengthens cultural self-confidence and highlights the core value of Huangmei Opera as a carrier of people-place relations.

Elements of placeness: Foundations and constructs

The inheritance and development of Huangmei Opera is deeply rooted in the local environment of Anqing. Under the action of multiple forces, the placeness elements of Anqing provide the material, social, and spiritual foundations for Huangmei Opera, which embodies place characteristics and, in turn, contributes to the construction of placeness. Anqing’s unique geographic environment, historical tradition, and humanistic spirit form the core foundation of Huangmei Opera’s cultural production, continuing to contribute to the construction of placeness through the creation and dissemination of the opera.

The geographical location and natural environment of the Anqing area lay the material foundation for the construction of placeness. Anqing is situated at the junction of Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, on the north bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountain, which facilitates the spread of Huangmei Opera across the region. The balanced distribution of mountains, hills, rivers, and lakes, as well as the mild climate with four distinct seasons, not only produces rich landscape resources but also provides conditions for agricultural production, forming a self-sufficient living environment.

Historical culture and folk traditions provide a source of content for the placeness of Huangmei Opera. Folk narratives, such as the Legend of the Southeast Flight of the Peacock and the allusion to Six Feet Lane, have become themes in classic plays. The spiritual qualities of historical figures such as Zhang Ying, Deng Shiru, Cheng Changgeng, and Deng Jiaxian are incorporated into characterization. Daily life practices such as production, festivals, and rituals, as well as dialect expressions, infuse the performance program with vivid place characteristics.

The humanistic spirit shapes the artistic character of Huangmei Opera, and the open and tolerant, soft, and pragmatic regional character formed by the intermingling of Wu and Chu cultures is directly reflected in the narrative logic and emotional expression of Huangmei Opera. The local sentiment cultivated by the living environment of green mountains and green water is transformed into artistic language through works on life themes, such as “Hog Grass.” The people’s sense of creativity in their work promotes the innovation of traditional programs in modern productions such as Sister-in-law of the Duck.

In the context of the intersection of globalization and localization, the elements of Anqing’s placeness have been integrated into the cultural production of Huangmei Opera, making it a symbolic place of traditional culture that continues to participate in the process of constructing and reproducing placeness. Thus, the elements of Anqing’s placeness are the roots of Huangmei Opera’s cultural production, and Huangmei Opera, which incorporates these elements, in turn, profoundly influences and shapes the formation and evolution of the city’s placeness.

Role mechanisms of Huangmei Opera’s participation in the construction of placeness

The interactive process of Huangmei Opera and the construction of placeness is essentially a manifestation of the dynamic interplay between structure, action, and place. The adjustment of structural elements prompts different action subjects to adopt differentiated response strategies, jointly shaping the placeness.

Intertwined dynamics: Breaking through the “structure-action” dichotomy

This study transcends the dichotomy of structure and action in traditional studies of placeness, revealing the complex association and synergy between the dynamic elements of Huangmei Opera’s participation in the construction of placeness from the perspective of structuration theory. Huangmei Opera is not a static text passively reflecting placeness but is in a continuous process of mutual construction with placeness. As pointed out by related studies, there is a dynamic and complex interplay between festivals, local industries, and placeness [40]. This study focuses on the specific cultural text of Huangmei Opera, which further confirms the universality of this inter-constructive mechanism. The repertoire content, performance form, emotional expression, and the regional consciousness of “Greater Huangmei” carried by Huangmei Opera are not only the products of local cultural traditions but also continue to shape, strengthen, and even reconstruct Anqing’s place identity and cultural space through the guidance of the government, the interpretation of the actors, and the practice of the audience. This dynamic inter-constructive relationship not only expands the connotation and extension of the “text” in the study of placeness construction but also provides key theoretical support for understanding the sustainable development of Huangmei Opera and its central role in the construction of local society and culture. Structuration theory emphasizes “structural duality”; that is, social structure is both the mediator and the result of social practice. Huangmei Opera is a vivid embodiment of this structural duality, as it is both the bearer of placeness structures and the key medium of action for reproducing or transforming them through the practices of the actors.

Consultations on modernity: Placeness production of “sharing” and “progress”

Within the context of modernity, Huangmei Opera’s participation in the construction of placeness exhibits distinctive dynamic characteristics centrally embodied in “shared placeness” and “progressive placeness.” This does not mean a simple abandonment of tradition but a contemporary response to the regional consciousness of “Greater Huangmei,” a creative fusion of traditional essence and modern elements in practice. The concept of placeness itself is not rigid and unchanging. Instead, it continues to evolve, presenting a complex situation in which tradition and modernity are intertwined and negotiated with one another. This strongly confirms the academic view that modernity exhibition and placeness expression can be embedded and transformed into each other [5]. From the viewpoint of structuration theory, the subjects of action continue to engage in reflective monitoring as they practice inheriting and developing Huangmei Opera. They selectively absorb placeness elements based on their understanding of the current social context and their expectation of future development: on the one hand, they prudently identify and maintain those core elements that are regarded as cultural roots and need to be kept relatively stable; on the other hand, they actively embrace change, exploring those elements that can be adapted to modern aesthetics, integrated into the spirit of the times, and realized in innovative transformation. This continuous process of selection, adaptation, and innovation is the core driving force behind the dynamic construction of the relationship between Huangmei Opera and placeness, highlighting the mobility of actors under structural constraints.

Path of living heritage: Balancing place roots and global perspective

In the face of the challenge of cultural homogenization brought about by globalization, the living inheritance strategy of Huangmei Opera profoundly embodies the logic of structuration theory on the use of rules and resources. The first strategy is to plant placental roots. The survival and development of Huangmei Opera cannot be separated from the nourishment of its birthplace and core transmission area. By establishing a close “audience connection” with the local society, Huangmei Opera not only fully absorbs local cultural nutrients but also profoundly influences the creation of local theater cultural ecology, the generation of cultural experience atmosphere, and the shaping of local cultural brand image through continuous performance practice, and this two-way interaction is the basis of its practice cycle. Secondly, it is crucial to insist on the continuity and evolution of cultural expression. Huangmei Opera is by no means a frozen specimen of time and space, and its “living” nature lies in the fact that it is a dynamic cultural practice process of continuous change. The creation of an elegant artistic atmosphere enhances its aesthetic qualities, the content of the repertoire closely follows the pulse of the times and highlights its vitality, and the expression of emotions, from “small love” to “great love,” reflects the enhancement of its spiritual realm. The evolution of this cultural expression is the core connotation of living heritage. Ultimately, realizing a creative balance between tradition and modernity is the key path to the sustainable development of Huangmei Opera in modern society. This is manifested in the following ways: actively using modern stage technology to enhance artistic expression, continuously expanding the range of topics to respond to the issues of the times, flexibly handling language expression to adapt to a broader audience, and personalized interpretation of characters by actors based on their personal experience and knowledge, and injecting emotion into their creative interpretation. This kind of negotiation is not a departure from placeness but rather a creative transformation and innovative development of Huangmei Opera’s localized inheritance under the premise of rooting in local cultural genes and through the continuous updating of technology, materials, knowledge, and experience to ensure that it maintains its vitality and vigor in a changing world. This is precisely the practical process by which actors utilize the resources and rules within the established structure and create new ones.